GRODNO, 29 May (BelTA) – Poland and Belarus' Grodno Oblast are considering launching an air service to Grodno Airport. The flights will be operated by LOT Polish Airlines, BelTA learned from Oleg Andreichik, the head of the sports and tourism office of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee.
“The Polish air carrier LOT is interested in launching regular flights to Grodno. Preliminary talks have been held regarding the plans to set up an air service between Warsaw and Grodno. We will be actively working on this project next year,” Oleg Andreichik said.
The Polish company will be particularly interested in launching the flights if the airport becomes part of the Augustow Canal visa-free travel area. Therefore, as previously announced, Grodno Oblast will initiate this change to Decree No.318.
Work is also underway to improve access to the visa-free travel area through the railway border checkpoint Grodno-Kuznica Bialostocka that initially was not included in Decree No.318. Meanwhile, the Grodno-Krakow train service, that was launched some time later, now brings many tourists. “If we make this step, we will see a considerable increase in the inflow of visa-free tourists,” Oleg Andreichik noted.
The Augustow Canal, Grodno and its surroundings have welcomed some 16,800 foreign tourists since the commencement of the decree on visa-free entry. Around 2,500 tourists have taken advantage of the visa-free travel option over the past week. Grodno has recently welcomed its 15,000th visa-free tourist, a 70-year-old man from Troisdorf, Germany. He came to Grodno for one day with a group of tourists. He said he plans to bring his family to Belarus for holidays. The man received gifts from the sports and tourism office and the travel agency that organized his tour.
